President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to investigate allegations of misconduct at Department of Veterans Affairs health-care facilities in Phoenix and across the country and to hold accountable anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.

Speaking from the White House, Obama also said he will work with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to address allegations of VA officials falsifying wait-time records for veterans seeking services. He continued to defend Shinseki, but said he would await the results of several reviews before deciding Shinseki's future.

"When I heard allegations of misconduct — any misconduct, whether it's allegations of VA staff covering up long wait times or cooking the books — I will not stand for it, not as commander in chief, but also not as an American," he told reporters.

Obama's televised briefing came amid growing political pressure to act on the controversy, which started in Phoenix last month. The Arizona Republic reported whistle-blower allegations that as many as 40 patients at the Phoenix VA hospital might have died while awaiting care.

Republican congressional leaders and veterans association officials said the president's attention to the matter was long overdue and that Obama's remarks did nothing to quell the growing controversy.

At the briefing, Obama said he assigned White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors to conduct a broader review of the Veterans Health Administration. Nabors was scheduled to travel to Phoenix today to meet with local VA officials and tour facilities.

"If these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it, period," Obama said.

The president said anyone who is found to have manipulated or falsified records at VA facilities will be held accountable. He noted that some officials already have been put on administrative leave as the VA inspector general conducts an investigation in Phoenix and elsewhere. Shinseki also is conducting a review.

Obama asked the public to await the results of the investigations.

"We have to let the investigators do their job and get to the bottom of what happened. Our veterans deserve to know the facts. Their families deserve to know the facts. Once we know the facts, I assure you if there is misconduct, it will be punished," Obama said.

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The president said he expects the preliminary results of the review in Phoenix and elsewhere next week.

Obama said the issues of slow service at VA facilities is years old and the entire system needs a review to ensure that it is addressing the demands of older Vietnam-era veterans and Afghanistan-era veterans alike.

"My attitude is for folks who've been fighting on the battlefield, they should not have to fight a bureaucracy at home to get the care that they've earned. So the presumption has always been we've got to do better," he said.

President Barack Obama pauses while speaking in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2014.(Photo: AP)

"I want to know what's working. I want to know what is not working, and I want specific recommendations on how VA can up their game," he said.

He asked members of Congress to partner with the administration to address the current controversies and to bolster the VA overall, but he received a chilly reception by a trio of Republicans immediately after the speech.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Obama's remarks fell short.

"While I am glad that after many weeks of refusing to acknowledge this widening scandal President Obama finally saw fit to speak about it today, but his remarks are wholly insufficient in addressing the fundamental, systemic problems plaguing our veterans' health-care system," McCain said.

"According to the latest reports, 26 VA facilities nationwide are now being investigated, and this administration's ineffectual response has created a crisis of confidence in our veterans' community. We need answers, leadership and accountability, none of which we've seen from the Obama Administration to date," McCain said.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the president needs to keep his promises to veterans.

"We all share the American people's outrage about the horrors at the VA — outrage the President belatedly echoed today. But what about accountability for treating our veterans like second- and third-rate citizens? For deceiving them while their lives hang in the balance?" Boehner said in a statement.

The U.S. House today is expected to debate the VA Management Accountability Act, reducing legal obstacles to firing or disciplining department managers for wrongdoing. Boehner urged Obama to press Democrats to support passage of the bill in the Senate as well.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, noted that it took a month since news broke of the secret wait lists and veteran deaths at a Phoenix VA hospital for Obama to publicly address the matter.

"Every day that we have waited for President Obama and Secretary Shinseki to show leadership, new complaints and concerns poured in from whistle-blowers, veterans and veteran family members across the country. These reports are symptoms of the systemic dysfunction within the VA system that has been developing for years," Moran said.

Obama's remarks gave veterans no reason to believe anything will change at the VA anytime soon, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

"This controversy is much bigger than Phoenix. And our veterans shouldn't have to wait a month for an investigation into one city as disturbing allegations have emerged in at least nine others," he said.

"These issues are not new. Problems surrounding unacceptable wait times, delays and cooked books have been emerging for years," he said in a statement. "After numerous GAO reports and dozens of public hearings, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

The president should have acted more quickly, said Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America.

"President Obama managed to say nothing from the podium today. Still no accountability. Still no firings. Still no reforms at VA. Nothing," Hegseth said.

Instead of acting on information that's already available, Obama used the briefing to shift blame for VA's problems to previous administrations, Hegseth said.

"Six years after he and Secretary Shinseki took over the VA system, they still won't take responsibility. The backlog has exploded on their watch, and now veterans are dying while waiting months on secret lists. We don't need another investigation to tell us that VA is failing at its core mission; we need oversight, accountability and action," he said in a prepared statement.

Both veterans associations urged House members to pass the VA Management Accountability Act.